


Put the Gun Down

by mchnclbrd



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, No Dialogue, Non-Canon Relationship, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, i named this file after a vine for some reason, i would die for natasha romanov, it's the what the fuck is up kyle one, literally just says that she has scars and a knife, my friend aj named this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-13
Updated: 2020-02-13
Packaged: 2021-02-28 07:00:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22699798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mchnclbrd/pseuds/mchnclbrd
Summary: When Clint Barton is given his next assignment, he thinks it'll be a standard locate-and-kill operation.  But Natalya Romanova throws a wrench into his plans.Or, how Clint got Natasha to trust him enough to relax.
Relationships: Clint Barton & Natasha Romanov, Clint Barton/Natasha Romanov
Comments: 1
Kudos: 24





	Put the Gun Down

**Author's Note:**

> No, this does NOT belong to the How They Saw Him universe, but please read it I'll love you forever especially if you comment.
> 
> This was originally supposed to be a way to be able to write without having to worry about annoying dialogue, but I really liked it. So here you are.

When Clint Barton is handed his next assignment, it feels like any other assignment he's ever been on. He has a target, a list of aliases, a reason why he has to be neutralized, and a picture attached. However, when he opens his phone to see a woman staring back at him, he's shocked. He's never had a female target.

Nonetheless, he heads to Russia to try and take her down. He was told that she goes by "Black Widow," so he starts asking around. He discovers her location and immediately begins to devise a plan for taking her out, shaking off the uneasy feeling that it gave him.

-

He has the shot. He always has the shot. But, for some reason, he can't seem to release the arrow. Something about the fiery-haired woman below him strikes a chord within, and he can’t finish it. He hesitates, deciding to shoot the arrow into a nearby corridor to buy himself time. When she comes back from investigating the corridor, Clint is there. Her weapons are raised seemingly before she sees him, fast enough to kill him with no opportunity for resistance. But she doesn't take the shot either.

Holding his hands up and laying down his bow, he tells her that he's not armed. He introduces himself as Hawkeye and tells her that he just wants to help, that he doesn't want to hurt her.  
(He decides that it would be best to leave out the part where he was ordered to kill her. If it came up later, he'd deal with it then.)

When she finally deems him a small enough threat to lower her weapon, he takes a small step towards her, which she reciprocates in the opposite direction. He stops and begins to talk to her, telling her that he wants to help her and give her a better life. He tells her about the people who saved his life, and that he wants to do the same. She nods, and he takes her back to the helicarrier.

-

When he arrives back at base, Tony is about a half second from blasting her into the next dimension before Clint's able to stop him, convincing him to send the armor back to JARVIS. He introduces her as Natalya Romanova, the name he was given in her file. She hasn't spoken yet, but she has some kind of beef with her name, enough to correct him. She says that her name is actually Natasha Romanov. Nobody questions her, rather opting to direct all of their hostility at Clint.

Tony refuses to let her in the main area of the tower until she's checked out by medical. Clint, despite not wanting to fuel Tony's paranoia, agrees with him. Natalya- Natasha, he reminds himself- should be taken to the medbay. When they tell Natasha this, she agrees, but refuses to leave Clint behind. She won't go anywhere without him, and doesn't seem to want to go anywhere with Tony. Deciding against putting her in the hands of a loose cannon, they send her to Bruce, who Tony believes is the most gentle human being on the planet- well, except when he turns into a giant green rage monster. 

When she's told to change into her gown, she won't change until Bruce leaves. Clint offers to leave the room as well, but realizes that leaving Natasha's sight causes her to become very panicked. Clint is befuddled at how one of the most dangerous, ruthless assassins in the history of the Soviet Union is this vulnerable, but meeting Tony is definitely an adjustment. Clint didn't kill her when he had the chance, and the others still could, which is why she doesn't want him to leave.  
He turns around when he hears the all clear, and he's greeted by a litany of scars. Some obviously from battle, some obviously from something else- probably herself, he thinks. Natasha shakes her head as soon as Clint opens his mouth, so he doesn't push her. 

-

It takes weeks before Natasha smiles. He took her ice-skating at Christmas, thinking that feeling the cold in a comforting environment might reprogram some of her bad memories of the Red Room. Of course, Natasha being the graceful human she is, is a natural. Clint, however, falls flat on his ass within three seconds. And then about every minute after that. 

(The longest time he went without falls was 93 seconds, which he was very proud of for the record). 

But somehow, Clint falling on his face every four seconds was something Natasha found very funny. All of a sudden, Clint saw a smile. It was fleeting, as her defenses immediately went back up, but it was more than she had smiled before. Clint took it as a victory.

From that point on, Clint tried his best to take her to do things she might find amusing. He introduced her to shows like The Office and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. He took her to try things she never got the chance to during her childhood- fast food, snowball fights, sledding, Sky Zone, bowling, etc. Sky Zone got the biggest smile out of her- something about bouncing to massive heights and being able to flip and do tricks without dying if she fell made her very happy- but it still didn't last. She always seemed to be on the defense, like Clint could kill her at any second.

-

Months after Clint disobeyed orders, almost got himself fired, and saved Natasha's life, she came into his room at 1:30 am. Shaking off his initial what-the-fuck reaction, he asked her what was wrong. Instead of words, she silently held out a knife. He didn’t have to ask why she was there.

Taking the knife and placing it in the drawer next to his bed (he'd move it later, it's just one fucking thirty in the morning and he doesn't have the energy to get up), he told her how proud of her he is and rolled back over, expecting her to go away.

(The thing about Natasha, was, at that point, that she'd talk, but she'd never stay long once she'd done what she needed to- never stuck around for small talk or mindless chatter.)

But she didn't leave. When he asked her what was wrong, she didn't say anything. Clint began to worry that she had left the world of the living when he realized something.  
Natasha had probably never been hugged.

He pulled down the covers next to him and opened his arms, which Natasha immediately sat in between, afraid to let go and just be with him for the night. He tried to convey to her that it was okay, she was always safe with him, but she knew. She always had been. She just needed a minute.

After a tense silence, she curled into him and immediately relaxed. None of the Avengers had ever seen a relaxed Natasha Romanov- even when she was asleep, she was tense, and usually gripping her knife (a different one than the one that she just gave Clint- she would never give up her defense knife, that would be stupid). 

But as soon as Clint wrapped his arms around her and pulled the covers up over her, every muscle in her body went lax. She even began to cry with the relief of it all. Having known her for months now, Clint knew not to ask why she was crying- he knew that he wouldn't get an answer- but just wrapped her tighter. 

As her breathing slowed, his did too, and they both slept better than they had in years, Natasha knowing she was loved and Clint knowing that he made the right choice all those months ago.


End file.
